Poem: A Moribundity for Flowers

Poem: A Moribundity for Flowers
“Lo, how a rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!” -Traditional Carol 

He thinks it’s strange
that I keep flowers from funerals 
Delight in their petals
Rejoice at their scent

Every time he sees it –
He calls it my death flower
Says it reminds him
that he is going to die.
Or that he is already dead-
That we die a little more each day-
And that makes him sad.

But I see it and think-
What a lovely rose!
What a triumph that it lives!

-RLH
1/31/19

About This Poem:

I wrote this poem on a frigid Pennsylvania winter morning when it was only five degrees Fahrenheit. On that snowy morning, I felt as if I could feel the love of Christ  (who is often referred to in Christian symbolism as a rose) was waiting to burst forth into spring.

Each day in this Season of Epiphany brings us closer to Easter.

“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.” -St. Augustine 

As I looked at this lovely rose which was given to me after presiding at a funeral, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Dante’s description of heaven as a giant rose in El Paradiso. We read Dante’a Divine Comedy in a small group at my church in 2018. I’m looking forward to exploring Milton’s Paradise Lost this year in 2019.

The beauty of nature reminds me that we are all connected.

Thanks be to God.

Have a blessed Sunday!

If you would like to read more of my poems, please check out my chapbook, Through My Good Eye: A Memoir in Verse. Now free on Kindle Unlimited! All profits made from this book are donated to my beloved church.